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We'll move the earth for a title!Sat, 01 Aug 2015 22:04:08 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Rapid Reaction: Denver Nuggets 100 Minnesota Timberwolves 85http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2015/03/04/rapid-reaction-denver-nuggets-100-minnesota-timberwolves-85/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2015/03/04/rapid-reaction-denver-nuggets-100-minnesota-timberwolves-85/#commentsThu, 05 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=9366After a cold-shooting start to the game, the Denver Nuggets opened up a big lead in Minnesota in the second quarter with a combination of energy, movement and effort on both sides of the court. The bench provided a significant boost tonight and despite a decided size advantage, the Nuggets dominated the game in a 100 – 85 victory over the Timberwolves.

Kenneth Faried, PF33 MIN | 8-14 FG | 2-3 FT | 14 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 18 PTS | +10 +/-As happy as I was with Kenneth’s performance and energy tonight, it frustrates me that he’s been dogging it so much for the past couple months. I do have to say I thought the Nuggets would get killed in the post and Kenneth’s defensive energy and focus were a big part of why they proved me wrong.

Wilson Chandler, SF26 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 9 PTS | +10 +/-He’s a glue guy and glue works a whole lot better when the pieces already fit together well. Wilson looked pretty out of place on the Nuggets-of-a-week-ago, but he’s doing what he does best (filling in the gaps) now that the team is playing well.

Ty Lawson, PG25 MIN | 0-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 9 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 0 PTS | -4 +/-Struggled mightily on offense although he was still able to tally 9 dimes. It gives me hope that maybe Ty is just in a bit of a funk and he wasn’t playing poorly on purpose just to get his coach fired.

Joffrey Lauvergne, PF11 MIN | 3-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +15 +/-Joffrey got a good amount of run in the first half and showed some solid play in the paint at a time when it looked like Minnesota would try to establish a presence there. He also showed some chemistry with Faried as both of them showed off their athleticism. King Joffrey again displayed a nice, refined post move for an easy score as well

J.J. Hickson, PF14 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +2 +/-Didn’t get in the way and managed to surprisingly help lock down the paint. Gotta respect JJ for playing out of position so consistently in his Nuggets tenure.

Darrell Arthur, PF15 MIN | 3-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | +11 +/-DA was a big reason the Nuggets opened up such a big lead in the second quarter. He was the first guy to knock down some shots and open up lanes for the guards.

Gary Harris, SG9 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +3 +/-Harris struggled mightily on offense again, but he came up with a couple big rebounds and played solid defense on Wiggins in his 9 minutes. I can be more patient with his shot when he’s contributing in other areas like he did tonight.

Melvin Hunt
As much as I liked Shaw’s honesty, I really like Hunt’s positivity with the media. For better or worse, he knows his top players need their egos stroked and he is stroking away unashamedly. The offense looked pretty ragged to start out and that led to a whole lot of missed jump shots, but things opened up soon after that and the energy of the team on both ends picked up quickly. He seems to have a good understanding of what his players need.

Five Things We Saw

The most common reference made by Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson in their semi-political answers to questions about what’s different now under Hunt has to do with floor spacing. Tonight’s offense looked like the old George Karl, loosey-goosey motion offenses and for whatever reason, it opened things up all over the floor for the Nuggets.

Despite a decided advantage in the paint, the T-Wolves were unable to take advantage of the fact that Kenneth Faried and JJ Hickson were holding down the center position. When Pekovic spun into an easy layup against Faried for the first points of the game, I was sure it was a taste of what was to come, but the defensive movement and rotations kept Minnesota off balance all night. Paint points: 52-28, Nuggets.

Race To The Bottom Update: Utah lost by 1 in Boston, Orlando lost, NY lost, Sac is on their way to a loss, Philly played well but looks like they’ll lose and the Lakers have 3 minutes left in a battle with Miami at the time of this writing. Denver will lose some ground in the race to the bottom tonight, but I can’t complain after the effort they put out there tonight.

If Ty, Gallo, Chandler, Faried, Nelson and Foye close out the season playing well and Nurkic, Lauvergne and Barton continue to emerge as rotation players, do the Nuggets actually have a solid skeleton of a team to add a high lottery pick to and succeed? Do they need to tear down completely? My first impression is that they should hope Faried keeps playing well, so they can flip him for another player/high draft pick in the offseason, then keep the rest and hope for the best in the draft lottery. What do you think?

Games like tonight are why Kenneth Faried’s new contract is a scary proposition. His numbers were pedestrian and his defense was its typical putrid self. For as ballyhooed a rebounder as he is, Faried is downright dreadful boxing out sometimes. Kenneth gave up two crucial offensive rebounds on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter that resulted in easy Minnesota put-backs. This is not new. But it will be unacceptable in a year when his contract balloons to unforeseen heights. Those two rebounds proved costly, as the game was still within Denver’s grasp at the time.

Chandler continues to struggle. If he’s not knocking down shots, he’s not doing your team much good. Tonight was no exception. If he is dealt sometime this season, the Nuggets can’t expect much for him. Is he being asked to shoulder too much of the offensive burden? Absolutely. On the flip side, is he only expected to perform relatively simple things? In my eyes, yes. Knock down shots and rebound the basketball. He didn’t do either very well tonight.

We must always remember that Jusuf is a rookie. As such, he’s going to have off nights. Tonight was one of them. While he shot a low percentage from the field, his impact was felt. Jusuf owned the glass in the first half. Minnesota had 17 rebounds as a team in the first 24 minutes. Nurkic had 8 by himself—in just twelve minutes. He was hampered by foul trouble, as most rookies are, which cut down his playing time for the second game in a row. Brian Shaw needs to leave him on the floor when that happens and use it as a teaching tool. How best learn defensive discipline than by playing in foul trouble? The only concern for him coming out of tonight? Whereas the Mavericks’ duo of Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki proved superior, Minnesota’s front line shouldn’t have posed such a problem.

Solid, steady game. After a poor shooting night in Dallas, Ty regained his form against Minnesota. He carried Denver’s offense from the opening tip to final buzzer and is quietly having a career-year. He’s stayed healthy, consistent, and continues to be one of the few reliable players on the roster. He’s underrated and under-appreciated (by myself included). If only he had more help.

Triple-A actually had a pretty solid all-around game tonight. He struggled containing Andrew Wiggins (particularly in the first quarter when Wiggins went off for 15 points). But the rookie scored “just” 16 over the final three frames combined. Afflalo had a pretty poor shooting night, but he pitched in on the glass. When your shot isn’t falling, you have to impact the game in other ways. He did that this evening.

This was Foye’s first night back from injury in nearly two months. Expecting anything of record would be expecting too much.

Shaw continued his defensive scheme switching screens tonight, which left Ty Lawson guarding Thaddeus Young on the block. Occasionally, Ty found himself on Andrew Wiggins. None of these matchups are particularly appealing. I know Shaw’s options defensively are limited to say the least. If he leaves Ty on the perimeter, Lawson gets stuck on screens or can’t cut off drives. So I see the coaching staff’s reasoning—better to have Ty guarding the block, bring double-teams, and take your chances rotating on defense, than to be totally helpless at the point of attack (early in the shot clock) and be sent scrambling. The problem in Denver’s scheme is the consistency. Sometimes they would switch. Sometimes they’d stay man. And there seemed no rhyme or reason for the constantly changing philosophy.There was obviously more wrong tonight. But I would need a week to go over all of it.

Three Things We Saw

At one point late in the fourth quarter, Minnesota used Denver’s switching against them. Faried was caught guarding Mo Williams at the top of the key following a Lawson switch. Mo immediately ran another pick-and-roll right into Hickson’s man on the wing. The result? Faried and Hickson got tangled up with each other, leaving Williams with a wide-open jumper. He drained it, giving Minnesota a five point lead, and effectively putting the game out of Denver’s reach. Flip Saunders, in that instance, out-coached Brian Shaw.

Shaw once again trotted out the Darrell Arthur, Wilson Chandler, J.J. Hickson threesome. And once again, there was little rhyme or reason to it. Who’s playing center? Hickson? Who’s at the four? Arthur? And Chandler’s at the three? The roster construction leaves a lot to be desired. This is why Shaw needs to stick with Nurkic until the bitter end. Give your young players time to grow and stop throwing out nonsensical player groupings that have little chance of success.

After a nice little five-game winning streak, the Nuggets have gone back to their dour, morbid ways in losing two straight. Tonight’s loss to a previously 6-win team is not just a step back, it’s a complete about-face. Back to the drawing board we go. The ball is in Tim Connelly’s court. Shit or get off the pot.

Kenneth Faried, PF30 MIN | 11-15 FG | 4-5 FT | 25 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 26 PTS | +20If not for Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets don’t win this game. He had great energy all game long, pulled down an insane amount of rebounds, and even looked good at the charity stripe. Although he was slow rotating defensively, and had an awful play (a travel then lob off the top of the backboard when trying to run the fast break) that made me audibly laugh, he deserves a high grade for his hard play all game.

Wilson Chandler, SF41 MIN | 7-21 FG | 5-6 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 21 PTS | +7Chandler was settling for too many three-point shots during the first half. He still made defensive contributions, including an awesome block on a dunk attempt, during the first half though. In the second half, he began to drive to the basket instead of settling for jumpshots, and he ended up with a pretty decent stats line.

Timofey Mozgov, C34 MIN | 4-9 FG | 3-4 FT | 14 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 11 PTS | +8Mozzie did a good job rebounding tonight alongside Faried. He struggled to finish at the rim, missing a couple of dunks in addition to some other shots close to the rim. He had several offensive rebounds that helped the Nuggets with extra possessions.

Ty Lawson, PG39 MIN | 6-17 FG | 4-4 FT | 3 REB | 11 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 16 PTS | +6Ty finished tonight with another double-double. He was at his best when driving to the basket and either finishing at the rim or finding a teammate. Ty’s pick-and-roll offense was awful tonight, though. I counted at least three separate times when Ty turned the ball over after trying to hit the roll man. Against a team that likes to run, those turnovers were pretty costly.

Arron Afflalo, SG42 MIN | 4-16 FG | 5-6 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +10AAA had a horrible shooting night. 25% from the field is not what we expect to see from him. I give him credit for continuing to shoot the ball, though. He hit some huge shots late in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets have struggled to close games out recently, so his play during the final minutes of the game was clutch.

Jusuf Nurkic, C14 MIN | 3-4 FG | 2-4 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 8 PTS | -4Nurkic was productive during his 14 minutes. He showed us some range after knocking down a jump shot at the top of the key, and played some good help defense. He also did a good job of getting a low post position when the Nuggets were running. He was rewarded with a couple of trips to the free throw line because of it.

J.J. Hickson, C18 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -16Hickson got torched by Thaddeus Young in the first half. He had trouble finishing around the rim. The Timberwolve bigs were able to block a good amount of his shots. I also remember one extra position he gave to Minnesota after fighting over the rebound with Mozgov and knocking the ball out of bounds. His block in the third quarter was nasty, though.

Nate Robinson, PG10 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -5Other than forcing a Mo Williams’ turnover, Nate didn’t do much to help the Nuggets’ cause. He dribbled the ball at the top of the key deep into the shot clock instead of using his quickness to penetrate.

Brian Shaw
The Nuggets got a much needed win which is the most important takeaway from tonight. The team struggled with their transition defense because of turnovers, and were unable to force a lot of Minnesota turnovers. I questioned some of the lineups (Ty and Robinson on the floor together in the fourth?), but he put the starters back in at the right time and helped orchestrate a couple of inbound plays to get Afflalo to the line late in the fourth.

Two Things We Saw

Rocky, the Supermascot, showed up big tonight. Not only did he sink a backwards, granny-style half-court shot, but he also sacrificed his body by racking himself on the balance-beam during a Nuggets rendition of “The Nutcracker”.

The Nuggets struggled to shoot the three. I’m alright with the Nuggets taking threes as long as the ball makes it into the paint before the three-point attempt. The Nuggets can’t fall in love with the jump shot. Good things happen when the Nuggets are in attack mode.

Hickson had a great first half and was very effective in the pick-and-roll with Ty Lawson, but went 0-5 in the second half. His defense wasn’t inspiring, as per usual, and Pekovic could do whatever he wanted when Hickson was on him.

Faried continues to fend off trade rumors. He came out to play tonight and was hustling for rebounds and pouring in second-chance points early. His defense was very up-and-down, but he did force Kevin Love into some tough shots in the second half. He also made a couple of nice late-game blocks in the final moments of the game.

Hamilton had a pretty solid game. He only played 16 minutes, but was relatively effective on both ends of the floor. He started the third quarter off well, hitting a couple of shots and initiating the offense. Not really enough playing time to warrant a very high grade though.

Lawson was amazing in the first quarter, finding open teammates all over the floor. He finished the game with a double-double, despite only shooting 6-16 from the floor. The offense really struggles to get going when Ty is off the floor.

Well, it looks like he has shaken the rust off. Very efficient 22 minutes for Chandler. He made some huge shots down the stretch and was mostly very solid defensively. The Nuggets have really missed a wing who can stretch the floor and Chandler coming back is huge.

Not quite as flashy numbers as we saw in his career-night in the previous game, but Mozgov had a decent game. As soon as he entered the game, his teammates were actively looking to find him and he scored a couple of nice baskets in the post.

Miller was the only player that played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter and he made a lot of game-changing plays. He was active in the post and even forced Minnesota to double-team him, after which he made an amazing crosscourt pass right into Chandler’s pocket.

Fournier’s confidence seems a bit shaky and at one point he gave up a completely open three to drive down the lane where Pekovic was waiting. He had some nice drives to the basket in the second half and scored in double-digits despite only playing 13 minutes.

Brian Shaw

Shaw had a decent game. He continues to start JJ Hickson, which proved to be a good idea in the first quarter. Anthony Randolph didn’t see the floor, so that’s always a plus. I do feel like he should have pulled the plug on Foye and especially Robinson earlier. He also left Faried in the game when Denver was trying to inbound the ball in the concluding moments of the game, which could have led to a five second violation and crucial turnover.

Four Things We Saw

Ty Lawson and JJ Hickson were terrific in the pick-and-roll. In the first quarter especially, this was the Nuggets’ go-to play. Lawson did a great job kicking the ball out to the perimeter, but he mostly focused on finding Hickson rolling to the basket. JJ also did a good job making himself available and finishing well around the basket.

The Nuggets REALLY struggle to create offense without Lawson. Without Ty’s drive-and-kick game, the Nuggets really don’t have a consistent go-to guy and often settled for bad shots. The off-ball movement all-around also slows down when Lawson is off the floor.

Mozgov and Arthur are the two best defensive big men on the Nuggets right now and it shows. The two players shared the floor for around six to seven minutes in the third quarter. Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic were kept to 2-10 shooting in that period and Minnesota’s offense was heavily dependent on their guard play for a while.

The Nuggets won the rebounding battle 46-42 against arguably the best rebounding frontcourt in the NBA. Great collective hustle on the boards by the whole team.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/instant-reaction-denver-nuggets-117-113-minnesota-timberwolves/feed/36Nuggets-Timberwolves preview with ESPN’s Bruce Bowenhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/#commentsFri, 15 Nov 2013 21:41:29 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=7726Prior to the Nuggets-Timberwolves matchup tonight at 6 p.m. MST on ESPN, Roundball Mining Company was lucky enough to catch up with current ESPN analyst and three-time NBA champion Bruce Bowen. In our brief interview Bowen discusses the value of JaVale McGee, being patient with Brian Shaw and which starting point guard has the edge between Ty Lawson and Ricky Rubio.

1. Kenneth Faried’s defense isn’t always stellar. Against premier power forwards like Kevin Love, how much does it hurt the Nuggets and how much does his energy on the glass make up for it?

This is where the loss of JaVale McGee will hurt them. A big part of what they do is based around him now, especially on the defensive end. Now it takes not just saying, hey, Kevin Love rebounds the basketball really well. Turn, face and put a body on him. Make sure he’s not able to get around you for those rebounds. It’s not something that everybody wants to do but it’s something that is necessary if you want to start moving in the right direction with that ball club.

2. How much of tonight’s outcome will hinge on point guard play? And which point guard is better right now, Ty Lawson or Ricky Rubio?

I think it’s going to go to Ty Lawson because Ty Lawson is able to take over games as far as scoring. I love the fact that Ricky Rubio plays within his strengths, and that’s assisting guys, getting out on the fast break, finding an open man in scoring position. But until he’s able to necessarily take over a game scoring wise, I think we’re always going to say that he’s lacking the one thing. Not many guys can dominate a game quite like Jason Kidd could. Jason Kidd wasn’t necessarily known as the most offensive but he could score and he defended, so Ricky Rubio has a great upside but there’s a lot of things you can still point to as far as him being able to get better as he continues on in the NBA.

3. If the Nuggets are able to win tonight and get to .500 after starting the season 0-3, what will that say about Brian Shaw as a young head coach?

I think it’s unfair to judge a coach after six games, period. You have to give coaches time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Teams coming together – J.J. Hickson who is there new this year. There’s a lot of new players in Denver under new coaching. Kenneth Faried is no longer under the management of the former coach, George Karl. So now, you have to erase your memory and start to accept the different philosophies of what Brian Shaw is bringing to that team. You don’t see that in six games. We didn’t see it with the Miami Heat when LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to Miami to join Dwyane Wade. We didn’t see it instantaneously. We have to be patient. We have to give him time to allow him to really get his feet wet and also to have a stamp of what his philosophy is on that ball club.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/11/15/nuggets-timberwolves-preview-with-espns-bruce-bowen/feed/1Brewer to sign with Wolveshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/10/brewer-to-sign-with-wolves/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/10/brewer-to-sign-with-wolves/#commentsThu, 11 Jul 2013 03:59:32 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6930According to Yahoo!Sports.com, Denver Nuggets free agent Corey Brewer has reached a three-year, $15 million agreement with the Minnesota Timberwolves. While exact details of the deal have yet to be finalized, Yahoo! is reporting the Nuggets likely will not participate in a sign-and-trade with the Wolves. This ends Brewer’s brief two-year tenure with the Nuggets in which he saw tremendous growth as a player while thriving under George Karl’s fastbreak offense. Brewer had gone on record as saying he’d have liked to re-sign with the Nuggets. With his departure, three of Denver’s top seven rotational players (in terms of minutes logged during the regular season) are no longer on the roster.
]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/10/brewer-to-sign-with-wolves/feed/71Rapid Reaction: Denver Nuggets 101 Minnesota Timberwolves 94http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/11/21/rapid-reaction-denver-nuggets-101-minnesota-timberwolves-94/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/11/21/rapid-reaction-denver-nuggets-101-minnesota-timberwolves-94/#commentsThu, 22 Nov 2012 03:27:17 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=5064

It wasn’t pretty, but Gallo put forth a pretty epic display of all-out effort when it mattered most. He finally got to the line in some huge moments and battled hard under the basket when he needed to. He played his most solid ball when the Nuggets needed it most and was huge on the defensive end against Kevin Love.

He fouled out and had 4 turnovers in a sloppy offensive showing, but the Manimal was relentless on the glass and forced the Timberwolves to adjust by pulling Nikola Pekovic out of the game. His hustle changes games in a pretty special way no matter what the stat sheet says.

Kosta Koufos, C23 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | +17

His ability to change and alter shots was a major reason why the Nuggets weren’t down 40 in a pretty awful first-half performance. Koufos got into it with Kevin Love in the second half and has really picked up his defense after a slow start to the season.

Ty Lawson, PG33 MIN | 5-12 FG | 6-8 FT | 2 REB | 9 AST | 18 PTS | 0

A C-minus effort through three quarters and an A through the most important one is what lands Lawson here. Ty hit shots and free throws when the Nuggets needed them, but came out dazed and confused for a good two and a half quarters to start the game. The good news is Lawson’s shooting is starting to come around.

It’s really tough to grade Iguodala after two night and day halves like that. He looked like a completely different player following halftime and showcased a creative side to his offense we haven’t yet seen in him as a Nugget. Iguodala has been smooth and steady in every close game the Nuggets have been in, regardless of how well he’s played personally. It’s not necessarily conventional, but that is leadership.

Karl actually brought Hamilton off the bench early and stuck with him through a pretty dismal stretch in which the Nuggets couldn’t get anything right. Hamilton stayed with it and responded with a few timely threes and a smooth twelve points in his bench scoring role.

Corey Brewer, SF17 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 7 PTS | +3

He did some admirable dirty work on cleanups and putbacks, but Brewer seems to have regressed after a hot shooting start and is unsurprisingly starting to come back down to earth. Brewer probably played a few too many minutes for how erratic his play been as of late.

JaVale McGee, C15 MIN | 2-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | -13

Ugh. This was looking like the good old JaVale as he started things off with a near-airball 20 footer and a quick pull up jumper in transition. He eventually recovered to play some better basketball in the second half but not by much. This was a chance JaVale had to come in early and earn some trust but he wasn’t able to capitalize.

He just Lebrons people in the fourth quarter out of nowhere. I have no idea how or why, but he can turn it on in a way no other Nuggets player seems to able to. Miller got some key runs going in the second half and was clutch with a few crafty and-ones over the Timberwolves defense

Three Things We Saw

Something is clearly not right with Ty Lawson, but his second half may have been proof his abnormally poor play isn’t sustainable. Ty’s fighting his way through it and if he can just avoid losing total control of the game as much as he does, I have no doubt we’ll see a game-changing Ty Lawson on the floor much more frequently.

The Nuggets finally made some shots in the second half and with credible shooting on the floor, showed how dangerous of an offense they can be. Denver can score in bunches with good spacing present as evidenced by a rare 30-point quarter to close the game. Regression to the mean feels nice.

It’s still not great basketball, but the Nuggets have started to get into some semblance of rhythm and flow throughout two tough road games against quality teams. They are getting much better at filling in the gaps defensively and holding their own against absolutely brutal front lines in both Memphis and Minnesota. It wasn’t pretty, but you can’t help but come away pretty damn impressed.

Anthony Randolph tops the trio of enigmatic seven-footers on Denver’s roster at no. 10 in our #NuggetsRank series. It’s going to surprise a lot of Nuggets fans that he ranks ahead of incumbent centers Kosta Koufos and Timofey Mozgov despite being the least likely to receive playing time among all three.

I’ll admit, something about it doesn’t seem right. Perhaps it’s a sad reminder that draft hype can carry an NBA career for a while. Randolph and fellow 2008 draftee Kosta Koufos both signed long-term extensions with the Nuggets despite neither having much success as rotation players.

After three teams and four years, the one thing we can say definitively about Randolph is that he knows how to disappoint. While Randolph is supposedly headed to a wide-open system best suited to bringing out his talents, the same things were said upon his arrival in New York and Minnesota. He teased and disappointed then, so why should things be any different with another change of scenery to Denver?

With Anthony Randolph there are no guarantees. The Nuggets knew that going in and risked very little to sign him. I was surprised he chose a bargain three-year deal with Denver after apparently fielding offers from Dallas and Atlanta. At the time, he looked like a solid addition to the Nuggets’ depth but faced an uphill battle for playing time in a crowded frontcourt.

Needless to say, that all changed just a few weeks later with Al Harrington being swapped in the blockbuster Dwight Howard trade. Suddenly the Nuggets had a clear need for a longer four to compliment Kenneth Faried and their more traditional centers. Randolph’s acquisition started to make a lot more sense as you started seeing playing opportunities open up for him with the Nuggets.

Part of the Anthony Randolph experience is getting caught up in all the hype. He really could be a fantastic player with the right plan of attack. The Nuggets are getting him at an age where he can still become a piece in a developing young core. Fans of Golden State, Minnesota and New York have all heard this before, but with Randolph now signed to a cheap deal in Denver it’s just too hard to avoid the temptation. Is he all hype? I’d argue there’s still time to figure that out. The bottom line is there are just too many reasons to get excited about his possible fit with this Nuggets team.

First, he’s coming to a coaching staff with a solid record of getting young players to produce in the Nuggets’ system. Randolph has an existing relationship with assistant coach Melvin Hunt and specifically mentioned the coaching staff when asked about choosing the Nuggets.

Although he missed opportunities to play in Minnesota and New York, Randolph was overshadowed by great power forwards in both situations. With only Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee loosely entrenched in the future frontcourt, there is no Kevin Love or Amare Stoudemire hanging over Randolph’s prospects in Denver. At 23, he’s in a unique situation in that this could be his last shot before reputation catches up and earns him the label of career benchwarmer.

Statistically, Randolph is a complicated player to figure out. As John Hollinger noted in his player previews, Randolph produces efficiently and looks the part, but his teams tends to be better without him on the floor. He is not a very creative player on offense and offers no consistency outside of being a monster finisher at the rim. It’s clear he isn’t the playmaking threat his draft buzz suggested he might be and if we know anything about Randolph in Denver, it’s that he’ll probably play the four or five exclusively.

If the Nuggets can focus his game instead of trying to showcase his versatility, Randolph might become a lot more useful the court. Offensively, he rushes everything and makes poor decisions with the ball. Most frustrating is his natural instinct to turn and put the ball on the floor after catching it. As a result Randolph is never squared up to the basket when shooting, often resulting in lots of head fakes followed by clumsy dribbling and a turnover.

If he stopped shooting off the dribble so much, Randolph might develop a serviceable midrange game. As it stands now, he can’t create anything with his passing and is an unreliable driving threat. Teams know they can force Randolph to put it on the floor and he’ll struggle to make the right play.

In Denver, Randolph won’t play if he doesn’t get a lot better at moving the ball quickly. I think he can grasp the Nuggets concept of not holding the ball and letting the guards do the work, but he’ll have to do more to crack the rotation. Becoming either a shooting or passing threat from the perimeter is essential to setting himself apart from the other bigs on this roster.

How he does it is less important than just being able to earn the coaches’ trust. Randolph is a supreme athletic talent now starting from scratch in the mile high city. Is it foolish to keep buying his story of hope and redemption and after four years of empty promises?

Yes, it probably is. One of the side effects of being a cynical NBA fan is obsessing over the hype that surrounds young prospects like Randolph. As a fan, you know it’s wrong to rank him above less spectacular players but you can’t resist.

It’s all part of the Anthony Randolph experience. I am not saying the Nuggets need Randolph to develop in order to succeed – they clearly don’t. It will, however, be incredibly disappointing if Randolph doesn’t work himself into a better place than where he is now.

You need to take a risk on players with the highest potential ceilings in professional sports. Anthony Randolph still looks like a worthwhile shot at that prized jackpot for a very reasonable price. Eventually youth loses its luster and NBA players are who they are at a certain point in their careers. Fortunately for Randolph, there’s a still a year or two in Denver to try and figure out who that is.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/09/29/nuggetsrank-no-10-anthony-randolph/feed/14Video Interview with Coby Karlhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/19/video-interview-with-coby-karl/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2012/07/19/video-interview-with-coby-karl/#commentsFri, 20 Jul 2012 02:35:28 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=4211I caught up with Coby Karl following the Timberwolves win over Cleveland Cavaliers at the Las Vegas Summer League. I’ve always admired Coby as a player and he’s been one of the most professional guys I’ve talked to in Las Vegas. He was kind enough to chat with Roundball Mining Company on playing overseas, the Timberwolves, his relationship with George and more. Many thanks to Coby for interviewing with us.

Corey Brewer, SF43 MIN | 4-15 FG | 4-6 FT | 8 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | -3Brew logged huge minutes in this one and kept himself useful by shooting less. He hasn’t found his touch from outside in the past two games but has been much more reliable on the defensive end. Zero turnovers is a positive development and he continues to do a good job using his length to disrupt the passing lanes.

Kenneth Faried, F36 MIN | 4-4 FG | 2-2 FT | 14 REB | 0 AST | 10 PTS | +6Faried had the rebounding outburst many have long been expecting. He tallied 14 total boards and extended crucial possessions late in the game. The Manimal finally shined in big time minutes and made several game saving plays, most notably tying up Love for a jump ball in the closing seconds. Faired will put double doubles reliably when he becomes a part of the regular rotation.

Timofey Mozgov, C11 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -17Mozgov had a forgettable game. His conditioning was an issue last night against the Thunder and he was laboring up and down the court from the opening tip. He didn’t really fight for position much and despite being on the wrong end of some terrible passes by Miller 4 turnovers in 11 minutes just can’t be afforded.

Arron Afflalo, SG44 MIN | 6-18 FG | 8-10 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 20 PTS | +3Afflalo was big, especially after he rolled an ankle and stayed in the game to battle through. The Nuggets are reliant on him to pour in points during this difficult stretch and he seems to be embracing the added responsibility. Arron is carrying the largest load in terms of everything he is asked to provide on a nightly basis. His shot selection is improving as is his willingness to step up in important moments.

Ty Lawson, PG17 MIN | 5-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 13 PTS | +2Lawson was well on his way to turning around a a horrible start when he went down with another left ankle sprain in the second quarter. Ty did finish the half but was held out of the game following halftime. While he’s still struggling to execute the most basic of concepts on offense, Ty had the pace going in the Nuggets favor early. His loss will be costly if he’s out for the upcoming back-to-back and it was unfortunate to see him go down right as he started to get himself going.

Al Harrington, PF40 MIN | 14-29 FG | 0-5 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 31 PTS | +17I’ll give Harrington credit, he took 29 shots en route to a season high 31 points and were it not for his early offense Denver might not have mustered enough energy to erase their big deficit. He was not badly exposed defensively save for an awful mistake against Kevin Love with the Nuggets up four and in position to close with 14 seconds remaining in the game. Not only did Harrington inexplicably foul but he gave Love a great look at the rim and was fortunate to avoid the and-one. Harrington also missed all of his free throws including two that could have prevented overtime, but Denver probably doesn’t even get there without his help.

Andre Miller, PG29 MIN | 0-8 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 12 AST | 5 PTS | +15Miller had a perplexing game, carelessly turning the ball over early and getting himself ejected on a routine bad call after Lawson had already been lost with an ankle injury. He just was not there when the Nuggets needed him and didn’t have an excuse to get thrown out when he did (though it was a bad call and I understand why he was upset). Andre Miller is smarter than that and the Nuggets need better leadership out of him along with a bit more consistency.

Kosta Koufos, C19 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -2I expected Koufos to log big minutes after Karl denied him well-deserved playing time in OKC. It didn’t happen thanks to breakout performances by Faried and Harrington, but Koufos still received a decent chunk of backup minutes and performed admirably. His production did take a serious hit and it’s hard to judge Koufos performance as I barely remember seeing him do anything in his limited time on the floor.

Julyan Stone, G18 MIN | 1-2 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 5 PTS | -3Stone saw some really unexpected minutes as it initially seemed like Hamilton would be the beneficiary of Ty Lawson going down at halftime. Stone ultimately had to step in after Miller was ejected and his defense changed the game. Julyan still struggled pushing the ball in transition and controlling his dribble, but he made perhaps the most important play of the game by bothering Ridnour’s layup attempt just enough to prevent disaster. Stone’s versatility was also on display as he did a great job chasing Rubio around and switching onto Beasley a couple of times.

Jordan Hamilton, G9 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -8He saw insignificant minutes, but they were not all that encouraging. Hamilton routinely lost his man on defense and was caught ball watching more often that you’d like. It’s too early to judge where Jordan might fit in but his defense on small forwards isn’t yet up to par and his overall awareness needs to improve. One thing I do love about Hamilton through is that he gets his shot off in a hurry unlike Afflalo for instance, who’s shooting motion is just painfully slow and drawn out.

Five Things We Saw

Manimal to the rescue: Although Harrington deserves some credit for pumping out points when no one else could, Faried was the true savior of this game. I did not know what to expect seeing him go up against Kevin Love and he did a solid job taking him out of the game for the most part. Faried routinely outworked him and a slew of other Timberwolves underneath the basket. As I’ve said before, Faried is a big part of the Nuggets future but he’s ready to help the Nuggets win games right now. Faried will never be a great scorer and he will benefit from the Nuggets developing a more cohesive offense. His raw offensive talent simply isn’t a good enough excuse to keep him out of the rotation any longer.

Tired Legs: This game was ugly. Neither team looked ready to play at the start of the game and both went through extended lulls of poor execution plagued by fatigue. The overtime period featured two tired out lineups barely capable of running a pick and roll. In the end it may have been the young legs of Faried and Stone that allowed the Nuggets to prevail.

Find a way: It was not pretty, but Denver needed a win so badly it’s hard to fault anything about their performance After dropping three straight they met with Minnesota who had won three in a row. These teams looked to be headed in opposite directions and it would not have been surprising to see Lawson go down and the Nuggets give into their woes yet again. They did a great job willing themselves to win a game they honestly had to have considering how tough the next five games on the schedule are.

Denver needs to play smarter: The Nuggets didn’t do anything right in their quest to close out the game in overtime. Harrington commits a bad foul with the Nuggets up four and the clock in their favor. Stone throws the ball away on a botched inbounds play at halfcourt where none of his teammates are in position to get back. Brewer opts to make a free throw with 0.5 seconds left giving the Timberwolves a chance to shoot. The Nuggets were once again burned by a defensive breakdown late that allowed Ridnour to get an uncontested shot attempt at the rim. What is most concerning is the fact I cannot remember a single instance this season in which the Nuggets created a quality shot at the end of a game. We need to see better execution in general but especially after timeouts in which the Nuggets are one play away from winning.

Injury bug bites again: Although it didn’t seem serious, Lawson strained the same ankle that kept him out of a few games two weeks ago. Arron Afflalo also suffered a scare as he rolled an ankle but was able to finish the game. The Nuggets have two more games before the all star break where they get an entire week off and should be able to get healthy. It might be prudent to take the cautious approach and keep hurting players out of the next two games rather than risk this situation getting any worse.